Mythos (Era, AoC Universe)/Plot
This is the entire plotline for the second Aeon of the AoC Universe - Mythos (Era, AoC Universe). Plot 'Rise of the Black Empire' The Seeds of Discord came sailing out of the Arda plane, around the year -65,000 (which is recorded as the Black Year in historical manuscripts) from the depth of the Burning Hells, and materialised as in the Plane of Existence. Losing altitude and seeking the nearest available world to land on, they crash-landed into Middle-Earth and burst open, releasing the dreaded Princes of Hell. Black Mist across the planet's surface. The Black Mist was to provide the pre-conditions for a demonic takeover. The process of takeover took a different amount of time for each prince, but one by one they made their way out of their respective shells, beginning the process of dark colonisation that would mark Middle-Earth for the next millenia. Sathanas spared no one upon his entry into the world, and quickly took to slaughtering anyone who crossed his pernicious rage. Hundreds of thousands of years cooped up inside the Burning Hells only edified his anger, and soon, with no one to oppose his presence in the Northeast, he took to claiming the embattled territory as his own. For once, the Lord of Wrath put his anger to one side and instead turned to his intellect, telepathically enslaving those who he did not kill during his initial rampage (and psychologically torturing any who did not submit instantly). Establishing the Sathusian Confederacy, Sathanas built himself an expansive domain, with the capital city of Sathjatar (meaning "pride of Sathanas" in the Daeros tongue) being his seat of power and the location of the Sathusian Citadel. Preferring to tend to his own interests, rather than rule the Confederacy directly, Sathanas appointed a number of lessers, the Anx'xi, to oversee the day-to-day affairs of the kingdom while he received worship from the Temple of Sathanas in Sathjatar. For the first time, Middle-Earth came under the thrall of demons, and Sathanas famously declared his to be the biggest kingdom in all of Middle-Earth. 'The Sathusian Wars (-62,500)' Lucithel had been keenly watching events from the city of Lucentia, biding his time slowly until he had corrupted all nature and brought it under his will. He had no problem sticking to this plan until Sathanas opened his big mouth and proclaimed his lordship over all of the demon princes. To the Lord of Pride, this was a...blow to his pride. At least, a challenge, as this was as far as Lucithel would admit. However his pride dictated events to him, this was not a claim he could simply ignore. Sathanas' exponential expansion of territory made him the most powerful demon prince of his day and directly jeopardised his plans for subtle expansion. Lucithel realised that sitting on his backside and slowly corrupting the world around him would not work. Rallying his forces, the Lucent Armies charged into the Borderlands and lay siege to Sathanas' empire. His Confederacy was soon overrun; the Anx'xi were leaderless without his oversight, and by the battle reached Sathjatar, Sathanas was on the verge of defeat. The city was destroyed in the blink of an eye, and Sathanas subdued. Mammon, seeing his opportunity, attacked Sathanas' empire from the west, pushing his border inwards via a series of hit-and-run attacks. The events of the Sathusian Wars crushed the Lord of Wrath, broke his influence, and ensured that he was relegated to an also-ran in the world of demon princes. His monopoly over, Mammon and Lucithel would go on to duopolise the Black Empire from that day onward. 'The Belphate War (-47,000)' Asmodeus, extremely concerned about the rise of Mammon and Lucithel as demonic superpowers, moved to protect his own domain with increasing paranoia. Desiring more power, he sapped his own Spire of Darkness, jeopardising his long-term goal of filling the Spire to the brim with chaos energy in order to bring the entire world under his rule for the short-term goal of maintaining hegemony over Azmodia. This plan would have worked perfectly if it wasn't for the jealous eye of Belphegor, the Lord of Sloth, who had been watching the developments of Azmodia from the safety of Belphatar. Belphegor had always seen himself as the best of the demon princes, because he had crafted a magnificent kingdom for himself without much effort. That said, he knew an opportunity when he saw one. Previously Belphegor had been targeting Leviathan's ports near the Western Sea front, but the Lord of Envy spoke to him directly, convincing him that Asmodeus' possessions were worth taking - after all, he was preoccupied with the threat of the expansionist Lords of Greed and Pride. Accepting Leviathan's advice as impartial (and not motivated by some sort of self-interest), Belphegor sent a black mist into the south of Azmodia to taint the Sisterhood of Fidelity (so ironically-named). Without his priestesses to guide the worship of polyamorous relationships and the like, his Spire of Darkness quickly declined. With no dark energy to power his operations Asmodeus noticed his rearmaments process going more slowly than usual. The resulting investigation led by Lilith, Princess of the Succubi, ncovered a series of spying missions for which Belphegor was responsible. Furious, Asmodeus reprised, shattering Belphegor's hold over his kingdom for good. 'The Belzarian War (-40,000)' As the power of Belphegor and Leviathan waned, Beelzebub took his turn as the rising challenger of the Black Empire. The Lord of Gluttony's capital city of Belial had the highest output of any city at the time, yet its people were starving. This was because Belzeebub's inefficient method of food storage left much food to waste (the black rot), and what was not spoiled was kept for the Lord of Gluttony himself. He egged his people on with promises of a satisfying meal if they continue to serve his empire, essentially keeping them in permanent slavery on the back of a bunch of false pledges. This also meant they wouldn't become idle like the followers of Belphegor, who had been defeated in the Belphate War 7,000 years earlier. Asmodeus' subsequent expansion following the Belphate War resulted in his borders shifting outwards, leaving Belial straddling the border between Azmodia and Belzaria. At first, the two princes were fine to leave the territory as a 'grey area' between their two great empires, but, as Belphate declined, Asmodeus's Spire of Darkness increased rather quickly. Seeking a method of releasing some of the spare energy, he invaded Belial and destroyed the city, forcing the embattled Belzeebub to rebuild his capital in a more central location in within th Empire. 'The Sin War' Main article: Sin War 'Declaration' Middle-Earth grew more and more corrupted as the years passed. The Aesir, having perceived the perversion, became drawn to the world. Creation was heading down a perverse and wrong direction, but here in this broken world lay some hope. If the mortals of the planet could be freed from their psychological chains and rose against their oppressors, they could prevent everything from going to Hell. A fierce debate in the Angiris Citadel was held as a result of these developments. Anariel, who had taken the lead in warning about the long-term effects of the coruption of Middle-Earth, now argued passionately in favour of the mortal races, opining that the Aesir had a duty to protect them from the wrath of their wayward brother. She claimed that in their emancipation, perhaps the Aesir may finally be able to emancipate themselves, possibly with the retyen of the Pantheon. Umbriel, on the other hand, argued against intervention, stating that it was demaning for archangels - a stronger race - to be reliant on the support of sinners and slaves who aged and grew ill with time. He charged that the Aesir had nothing to do with Middle-Earth and it'd be better off left to rot. Duterius, while agreeing with Umbriel's point, did not like hearing him speak, especially during his rank condemnation of mortality. Ultimately Anariel's soft speech crushed Umbriel's strong opposition, and the Aegis Council voted 4-2 in favour of intervention with one abstainee, Varian. Knowing they could not manifest on the Plane of Existence as they required too much power, Varian sent his Avatar into Middle-Earth to raise a mortal taskforce - the Carnal Armies - one that would bring down the vile Black Empire once and for all. By helping to form the Alliance of Common Peoples, led by the Trogg Ram'Sed, Varian broke the telepathic link between the demon princes and their subordinates. 'The War' Once the Alliance had been formed, Varian gave the all-clear to his fellow Aesir, and the signal that it was time for them too to enter Middle-Earth was given. This was a risky mission, given that they were placing large portions of their souls into their avatars - should Sargamon take note, he could destroy the bodies and orphan their souls, ridding the world of its last hope against his insidious onslaught. But it was a risk they had to take - the Carnal Armies could not win this fight on their own. Thus, they too intervened, and by this point the planet was buckling under the sheer pressure of seven archangels all attempting to manifest in the Carnal Plane at the same time. Once the War went underway, it was a sweep for the revolutionaries. The Carnal Armies destroyed the demon princes' citadels, and the princes themselves reeled in response to the shattering of their telepathic hegemony. Frantically attempting to stave off the invasion, they pooled the full force of their dark magic from their respective Spires, but the spires were not enough to defeat the combined forces of the Aesir and their mortal allies. § Asmodeus was defeated after a long struggle involving the destruction of his greatest armies, the collapse of the Sisterhood of Infidelity and the capture of Lilith at the hands of Anariel. § Belphegor was easily brought to heel as the city of Pergamon fell and he was toppled from above his citadel, and subsequently imprisoned in a light halo by Duterius. § Belphegor was subdued by Mezarel and Regael's combined efforts. § Leviathan's hegemony over the sea was brought to an abrupt end by Isodael, who later crafted ships on which the Carnal Armies would sail across to Sathjatar to defeat Sathanas. § Mammon, having spent vast quantities of energy trying to teleport himself to safety, was apprehended by Umbriel following the showdown at Avaricia. Mammon succeeded in slaughtering 75% of the army sent to fight him, resulting in the biggest lost of life in the war on the Allied side. 'Battle of the Hellfire Plateau: Lucithel's Defeat' Finally, Lucithel, the most powerful prince of all, was attacked. Having witnessed the fall of the other gods, he spared no one in his onslaught, destroying wave after wave of soldiers sent to dispatch him with. Pooling their holy magic, the Aesir brought Lucithel's nearly-full Spire of Darkness toppling onto his head, hoping to destroy it before he was able to use it. Wrong. Lucithel allowed the Spire to fall and when it burst open, the monstrous power it granted him was unprecedented. Now powerful enough to challenge the Aesir themselves, Lucithel threw mountains of black magic at them. At first, he easily shrugged off the successive halos of light they threw at him, but after becoming distracted sufficiently by Ram'Sed, halos accumulated on his body at a rate to high for him to handle and he exploded into a million pieces. The Elemental Avatars, lieutenants of the Black Empire themselves, were also dealt with by the Carnal Armies and the Aesir. First Ignitor, the Firelord, was besieged within his own sanctum and struck down by Anariel and Duterius. Then, Terraia the Stonebearer was crushed at the Terrestrial Fortress at the hands of Mezarel and his partner Regael. Ventus, realising what had happened to the other two, sallied forth to defeat the carnals only for Isodael and Varian to turn his own power against him. Hydrion was beset by Umbriel after having his armies shattered. With the Black Empire gone, a tentative peace settled over Middle-Earth. The clean-up process was complete, and all kinds of life began to flourish on the newly-reformed planet. 'Troll Expansions (-24,000)' The end of the Black Empire signalled a new age for the planet of Middle-Earth. Formerly ruled over by demons, now the mortal races had the chance to govern themselves. One of the most powerful races in the aftermath of the Sin War turned out to be the trolls, a strong, warlike people who fought for clan and kindred honour. They established the first non-demonic empires, building their citadels on top of the ruins of the demonic temples the Carnal Armies destroyed during the Sin War. There were many species of troll - dark troll, ice troll, jungle troll, desert troll, dark troll and undertroll - but their shared racial heritage was about all they had in common with one another. Each troll species had its own set of tribes, and each tribe set about claiming the vast lasts of Middle-Earth for themselves. As such, several empires sprung up across the world, with brilliant capital cities built to honour their rulers. The following empires sprung up during the Troll hegemony: Arverni Empire (forest trolls; east) Sulebian Empire (jungletrolls; south) The other trolls (ice, desert, dark, island and grey) held settlements around the planet during this period as well, but they did not form empires. For instance, the Frostmane, Wintersong and Thorax tribes developed residences in the frozen wastes of the north, closer to Niflheim. Significant figures during the Troll Expansions Ran'jin the Reviled '- leader of the Sulebian tribe of jungle trolls, and ruler of the Sulebian Empire. *'Lord Florus Strongbranch '- leader of the Arverni tribe, king of the Sulebian empire and most significant forest troll in existence. Battled against General Tarantulon and his Arachni during the Arachni-Troll Wars, and also organised the failed ambush at Everwood Forest. 'Arachni-Troll Wars The Arachni watched in envious awe at the achievements of the trolls. The Arachni, a race of arachnids that settled in the caverns of the Creepy Hollow, had founded their own small Kingdom on the coast of the Hollow where they lived in relative peace, until the ascension of Agony, the Spider Queen. Unimpressed with the "minute" size of her domain, Agony decided that, just as the trolls rose, so should the Arachni. Calling upon her greatest general, Tarantulon the Warmaker, Agony sent him on an expedition against the forest troll king, Florus. The trolls were the most technologically advanced race in the world at the time, but Tarantulon was an incredibly skilled general, and led the Arachni to numerous victories. Crushing the castles and civilisations of the forest trolls, the Warmaker routed their legions and erected flags to the glory of his queen. The campaign went brilliantly, which deeply disturbed the other troll races - the expansionist mindset of Queen Agony had resulted in the collapse of the forest trolls, and each chieftain wondered whether they would be next to suffer. Thankfully for them, they didn't need to fear for too long - during one precarious assault on Everwood Forest, Tarantulon went missing. The Arachni won the battle due to sheer numbers, but took heartbreaking casualties and had lost their brightest tactician. Without the Warmaker to guide them, the Arachni's expansionism slowed to a crawl, and Agony, depressed by his disappearance, expended the full power of the Arachni Empire trying to find him. 'Coming of the Night Elves' It was at this point that some trolls grew tired of the constant fighting and secluded themselves from their brethren. The Darkspear tribe of the dark trolls did just this. Fearing they too would be next to suffer from the Arachni's wrath (and ignorant of Tarantulon's disappearance), they settled near the enchancted forests of the Midnight Glade, and its soothing magics coalesced into their racial biology to create the night elves. The night elves (also known as kal'dorei) developed a druidic culture, using the magics of nature to care for and curate their enivronment. This drew them closer to the wild gods trained by the Aesir after the Sin War, and some wild gods even took night elves under their tutelage. The other trolls were ignorant of the Darkspear tribe's breakaway, and remain so for the next thousands of years. 'Rise of the Smurfs' Not all trolls had succeeded in creating empires. Though the trolls were typically lanky, muscular and well-built, there was a particular aberration that most trolls spoke ill off. Named 'undertrolls' due to their shorter height, stubbier legs and relative lack of physical strength, they were excluded from troll society at large and largely inhibited during the empire-building process as they would have almost certainly been ruined by the Agony and her Arachni expansionists, or by other trolls. Driven out of almost every settlement they found, the Undertrolls eventually gave up and built their new home on the site of the Hellfire Plateau, where Lucithel had been defeated. It was considered dangerous as the entire area had been tainted by magic from Lucithel's explosion, but time had turned the darkness into arcane, and like the night elves and the Midnight Glade, the Plateau (which they renamed the 'Cerulean Plateau') was of great use to the Undertrolls. They began calling themselves "smurfs" ('worthy ones' in trollspeak) as opposed to "undertrolls" (which implied inferiority). Learning the ways of arcane magic, the smurfs developed a magocratic kingdom. At first, they had no unified leader, but the best mages among their people were revered by the other smurfs. At first the Smurf Mago-Council was set up to oversee the development of their growing kingdom, but eventually the councillors coalesced around one figure: Dan-Ariz, one of the the most powerful sorceror of his day. By gathering the support of the other councillors, he absorbed the Mago-Council into himself, and was declared King. Under Dan'Ariz's insight, the Troll-Smurf Wars took place. The smurfs, now powered by forces of the arcane, easily dissipated the border walls of the other trolls, pushing back their brethren. As the other trolls were completely new to magic, they had no idea how to counter it, and the smurfs, the ones whom they once despised and looked down upon, now broke their power in the drylands, wetlands, grasslands and highlands. The most symbolic defeat of the trolls was the destruction of the Three Tusks Dam set up by the desert trolls, ruled by Chief Rakir, to supply them with freshwater. The dam's destruction led to the deaths of nearly 1,000 desert trolls as logs the size of trucks crashed down on them. However cruel the act, the reign of the smurfs was not up for debate. Following the erection of the Smurf Empire, a magocracy where one's magical talents would take them to the top, a 'high caste' emerged among the smurfs, took up the government positions under Dan-Ariz, seeing themselves as somehow better than the lower classes of the same race. Tapping into the powers of the Cerulean Plateau, the high caste conducted numerous experiments with its magics of increasing recklessness. Although they agreed that what they were doing was someone damaging to their environment, the recklessness of Dan'Ariz and his followers continued despite the repeated warnings of wizened smurfs in the lower classes. The fact that the smurfs continued to live in harmony restored warmth to their hearts, but its growth seemed unsustainable. Dan'Ariz did not take kindly to criticism of his regime, but tolerated it for the sake of his PR. 'End of Ages' Sargamon sat on the Seat of Flames, waiting for a sign of the cosmic keystones that made up the legendary Fusion Staff. The arcane magic of the sarmatians sent ripples through the Cosmos and were so powerful they went all the way up to the Arda dimensional plane, and demons of the Burning Hells themselves could see them. Sargamon also noticed these arcane ripples, and drew nearer to the Yggdrasil world-tree. Realising that there was no way he could enter the Yggdrasil in his current form, the Ruler of the Underworld contacted Dan-Ariz telepathically, appearing to him and the high caste in the form of an entrancingly beautiful voice. Some of the magocrats began reporting the hearing of voices in their heads. When their claims were espoused by their king, Dan-Ariz himself, they knew them to be accurate. Summoning the high caste to a midnight meeting, knowing that the other sarmatians were diurnal and would be asleep, the King announced that they would, together, await the next arrival of the spirit (or whatever was causing them to hear voices; they didn't know who it was). Sargamon seized at the change to torment them again, and spoke in a soothing tone, announcing himself as a venerable god, one who wanted to 'bless' the sarmatians with power that rivalled celestials. Acting on their pride, the high caste instantly started building a great portal to allow their 'god' to appear in the real world. As the portal grew larger and larger, Sargamon sent 'missionaries' into Middle-Earth to spread the word of their god from beyond. These were not missionaries at all, however - they were demons. Demons of all shapes and sizes - and they now threatened a return to the villainous Black Empire. Realising how the upper class were screwing over everyone else, the lower-ranking sarmatians got behind Tiberian, who had been a stern critic of the magocracy from years ago. With the help of the Zodiacs, he formed a Resistance team to depose Dan'Ariz. It wasn't only the sarmatians who had been touched by this, however, as the night elves had been observing events from the Midnight Glade, and, seeing the unbelievable threat to nature following Dan'Ariz's missteps, allied themselves with him Tiberian. Furious that his plans for world domination would be thwarted by these agitators, Sargamon demanded that his demonic marching hordes make war upon the races of Middle-Earth, as he refused to allow himself to fail this time. The flights red, blue, green, black and bronze agreed to assist Tiberian in his overthrow of Dan'Ariz and the insidious demons that threatened the realm. Though the help of the Aspects was immense, and succeeded in keeping the Legion's forces at bay for the time being, they were undone by the machinations of the traitorous dragon Tiamat. Realising the ascent of Sargamon's legion was her chance to make her flight great (at the expense of the others), she unleashed the Dragon Soul against the demons...and the other dragons. The uncontrollable nature of the Soul's energies prevented her from using them fully, for the time being, but no one was fooled into thinking this would be the last time she appeared. 'The Sundering' Tiberian led his Sarmatian Resistance forces against the high caste, knowing that even if this were treason, it was for a good cause. The people of Middle-Earth had fought ceaselessly against demons, only for their greedy king to open the gates once more. As the portal got larger and larger, Tiberian and the resistance raced to destroy it before Sargamon could enter. Realising that the Cerulean Plateau and its immense magic was powering the portal, Tiberian resolved to destroy it and close off the portal for good, shutting Sargamon out of Middle-Earth. The Resistance forces kept the Legion distracted for Tiberian to enter the plateau itself, preparing for its final destruction. Unfortunately, Dan'Ariz and the High Caste were waiting. In their ensuing struggle, the crossfire grew unsustainable and it collapsed the Cerulean Plateau in the process, blasting Vigrith's landmass into several disunited continents. Human expansion It was around this time that humans appeared on Middle-Earth. Deciding that trolls were a spot of bother, some of the human tribes abandoned their past and decided to start a new kingdom together. This kingdom became known as Anthromor (after the word anthropomorphism), with Mordain the Bastion '''as its very first king. High elf expansion The End of Ages was over, but the night elves were shaken to the core by the damage that had been done to the wildlife they loved so much that they forsook the teachings of nature they had been brought up with and instead pursued arcane magic, believing it to be the best way to protect themselves and their people. The use of magic had been frowned since the beginning of night elf society, but now it was outright banned. Any who refused to comply were exiled, and those who were named themselves the '''high elves. The high elves turned away from the moon and began worshipping the Sun, settling on the continent they named Quel'Doria (after themselves, meaning 'place of the highly-born'). The native trolls did not take kindly to this, so they attacked the high elves before they could settle. Outmatched by a relentless army of lanky, two-toed creatures, the high elves would have been exterminated if it weren't for the interventions of the humans. In exchange for helping them during the war, Mordain agreed for the most skilled humans to be enlisted in the learning of magic that would be using against the trolls in the forthcoming war (though he was suspicious of it the entire way through). World Wars Mythos was brought to a drastic end by two world wars between the year 0 and 15, resulting in up to up to a million casualties. The Second World War was brought to a dramatic end in the year 16 with the Silent Ceasefire, and by the year 17, the Northshire Agreement was ratified by all formerly belligerent parties, which banned the use of warfare as a means of dispute resolution, from thereon out. Category:Aeon of the Champion articles Category:Articles with a high chance of retcon Category:Unfinished pages Category:Aeon of the Champion timeline Category:Aeon of the Champion locations